In 1914, on the eve of World War I, the Tsar’s head of security is assassinated by a murderer calling himself ‘Odysseus’. Well-known for his sleuthing triumphs, detective Fandorin and his associate Masa are ordered on to the case.

A clue takes them to Baku, the capital of the infant Russian oil industry on the Caspian Sea.

The ‘black city’ seethes with bandits, oil men, fanatics and nationalists, some of whom wish to neutralise Fandorin.

His discomfort is enhanced further when he encounters his beautiful, estranged, actress wife.

The Erast Fandorin detective novels are always meaty, packed with historical detail, old-fashioned in the best sense and intricately plotted.

Readers can expect prime Akunin — ingenious, twisty, at times digressive, exotic — a challenge to which his translator, Andrew Bromfield, rises magnificently.

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HOUSE OF GLASS by Susan Fletcher (Virago £16.99, 368 pp)

HOUSE OF GLASS

by Susan Fletcher (Virago £16.99, 368 pp)

Clever, forthright, rational and a sufferer of brittle bone disease, in 1914 Clara Waterfield takes the job of supervising the plants in the glasshouse at Shadowbrook, a house in Gloucester with a lurid history.

Eerie footsteps sound at night, the housekeeper is terrified and Shadowbrook’s owner is mysteriously absent.

Clara may be small and partially crippled, but she is educated and rational.

However, she needs all of her scientific resources to distinguish between rumour, speculation and what is actually true at Shadowbrook — including her feelings for Kit Preedy, the farmer.

The plot dips in and out of the Gothic and demands a pinch of salt, but the writing is magical and often extremely moving. A gem.

FIVE DAYS OF FOG

FIVE DAYS OF FOG by Anna Freeman (Orion £14.99, 368 pp)

by Anna Freeman (Orion £14.99, 368 pp)

Ruby Palmer is the leader of the Cutters, a gang of female criminals, and her daughter, Florrie, is tipped to take over.

However, Florrie is dithering between her familial loyalty — with its financial perks — and whether to go straight for the sake of Ted, the man she loves.

Worse, someone is grassing up the Cutters. As the Great Smog of 1952 descends over London, the hunt is on to find out who it is and to cut them down.

Swaddling buildings and choking citizens, the fog is a great metaphor for the murk in which the Cutters operate.

Thoroughly at home with her material, the author enjoys herself with her sharply realised cast of characters in her pacy, sometimes brutal, but entertaining novel.